Somali police should release Sky FM journalist

Nairobi, March 31,
2014--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Somali authorities in
the capital, Mogadishu, to release a radio journalist who has been held without
charge since Sunday. Nuradin Hassan is an editor of Sky FM, as well as a news presenter, according
to news reports and Sky FM.

Mohamed Khalif,
chief inspector of the Central Investigations Department (CID), asked Nuradin
to report to the CID for questioning
on Sunday, but the journalist was detained
when he arrived, Sky FM Director Mohamed Muse told CPJ.

News reports
and local journalists, including Mohamed, said Nuradin was detained in
connection with his report on Sky FM that said the passport of a British
citizen--who works as an adviser to the prime minister--briefly went missing, disrupting
his travel plans with the prime minister. Authorities said Nuradin had reported
misleading information and questioned the journalist on how Sky FM obtained its
information, reports said.

"Somali
authorities continually harass journalists who portray the government in a
negative light," said CPJ East Africa Representative Tom Rhodes. "We call on
the government to release Nuradin Hassan immediately."

Abdirahman Omar, a spokesman for
the government, told CPJ that Information Minister Mustafa Dhuholow was looking
into the case.

Sky FM is a sister radio station to Radio Shabelle and part of the
Shabelle Media Network. The Shabelle Media Network has often been
harassed and its journalists targeted. In October 2013, heavily armed security
forces raided
its offices, arrested three dozen staff members, and confiscated equipment.
In the past five years, unknown gunmen have killed at least nine journalists
working for the Shabelle Media Network, according to CPJ research.